Saturdays were always a busy at The Three Broomsticks, but when one factored in a Hogsmeade weekend there wasn't much time for even a short break.  Anna kept a smile on her face, reminding herself it was good to keep busy.  Bustling from customer to customer meant little time to think of anything that didn't pertain to whatever the students and other visitors were ordering.

There were a few familiar faces scattered here and there, and she mostly went unnoticed.  It had been difficult in some ways, admitting she wasn't some sort of super witch who could handle whatever life tossed her way.  There were times she missed the challenge of her previous profession and helping the students at the school.  However, her pride had been set aside and she was happy to have the down time.

Taking a tray filled with a round of butter beers from the bar, she made her way over to a group of students crowded around a table that was nearly to small.  She had nearly made it when her toe caught on something and she tipped forward a bit, biting back every less then lady lack swear that popped into her mind.  Doing a bit of a balancing act, she managed to save the drinks with just some minor splashing.

She gave an embarrassed smile to  a patron to her left, glad the little bit of butter beer that had splashed over seemed to land on the table.

"I'm so sorry," she said.  "I'll be back in a moment to clean that up."

Now that she was steady she turned for a moment to see if the object in her way had been a chair leg or perhaps attached to the leg of a patron.

The current Hexy level is Green

---

Another Hogsmeade weekend had come around. And once again, it wasn't really 'Casey' that went to Hogsmeade. Slipping into the guise of Hexy got easier in places out in unfamiliar public, where no one would notice. The Three Broomsticks was the usual depot to switch, being just along the road to where Darla had her cottage.

Hexy was at a single table clustered against others, staring at her legs. That hadn't been the goal of sitting with a slouch but as her mind wonder she got to noticing the length of her legs. Although they appeared to be perfectly even and normal pair of legs in denim, there was something off about them, in that way the middle of a growth spurt feels awkward.

Although it wasn't really her legs that were the issue, it was just what she was staring at. A convenient distraction to the realization of circumstances. Hogsmeade weekends had been the only time mother and child had been able to reconnect. A mother who saw life from the perspective of 'Casey her daughter that lived up at the wizardry school' and this was all Casey could do to play along because everyone else's reality was 'Casey the male heir of the O'Dohertys and resident jerk at wizardry school.'

And this particular deception had a nickname that started with 'H.'

Hexy was experiencing the dichotomy of being comfortable in the chair but not comfortable about the immediate future. She wasn't sure right now whether going to see her mother was right thing to do. What if time could just stop here, no parental visit, no school to return to, no other identity to shrug on, would she enjoy a life suspended--

That was when a sudden pain struck her in the ankle, a blow like a troll's club. Her mouth opened to scream silently without air. Wincingly, she withdrew her legs and gingerly touched the afflicted foot.

Just what had happened? Returning to the world of the present and revitalizing those senses drowned out from deep thought, Hexy found that her legs had been too far out from the table into the aisle where she had unknowingly tripped a waitress.

Her mouth opened again but remained silent. There wasn't anything she could complain about, it was her own fault for having her legs stretched out. So the glare in her eyes faltered as she instead keep a squeeze on her ankle to stave off the pain.

Looking down, Anna's eyes almost instantly feel on the young student holding her ankle and it didn't take long for the pieces to fall into place.  She suspected the girl had her leg too far out, likely not intentionally, and Anna's trip had caused some injury.  Glancing at the table and then back at the girl she felt the instincts of her healer's training kick in.

"I am so sorry," she said softly.  "Just give me one moment...I might be able to help."

Turning away she crossed the short distance to the table to students and delivered their drinks.  It was busy and one less group of patrons waiting for her would be helpful if she was going to offer to help fix the girl's ankle.  Really it was no less chaotic then some of the hospitals she had worked at throughout Europe.  On a really busy day it often felt a bit like a crowded pub rather then a medical institution when she had found herself bouncing quickly from patient to patient, dodging countless other healers with their patients in the halls.

Making her way back to the girl, she offered a small, gentle smile.  She felt terrible, even if she couldn't possible have seen the girl's foot in her path.  She crouched down in front of the girl, trying to get a read on how much pain she was actually in.  It was likely and hopefully a minor sprain, but even that could still be painful.

"I'm Anna," she said.  "I'm sorry I didn't see you.  I used to work as a healer, perhaps I can help."

Having pain swelling up in her ankle at least gave Hexy something singular to focus on. After the initial sting, the pain was more from shame than the actual injury. Another reminder of how weak and brittle her body was. Resentment that had no outlet to remove it.

Although there was something...oddly familiar about the waitress that had stepped on her. A face that was somehow familiar in the furthest fringes of the word acquaintance.

"No, it's fine." A heavy breath escaped her lips as she clutched at her ankle. "I just bruise easy."

The last thing she wanted was more attention from healers after that Dragon Pox scare. "Although how did a healer wind up as a waitress?"

"Although how did a healer wind up as a waitress?"

Anna regarded the girl for a moment, not really convinced her ankle wouldn't need some attention, but leaving the topic alone for the moment.  It was a fair question...generally people in her position didn't downgrade their careers.  However, could a girl really understand the reasoning?  There were times Anna wasn't entirely sure she understood how she ended up at the Three Broomsticks.

"It's a bit of a long story..." she said.  "Sometimes things just happen in life...I needed to take some time away, take a bit of a step back.  My personal life was interfering with my professional life and I didn't want it to start effecting people who were counting on me."

Glancing down for a moment she shook her head and then offered a half smile as she glanced back up at the girl, "I suppose it does sound a bit odd for a healer to end up here, doesn't it..."

The throbbing died down to a more manageable level. It stung rather than roar with flames as Hexy gingerly twitched the ankle to see if it would turn. She could try walking it out or just keep it still for several minutes.

The left side of her lips pinched into her cheek in thought. The same words could also suggest some kind of scandal or negligence or lack of competence on the part of being a healer. But...and this was the weird thing, Hexy felt like she might have seen the waitresses face before. And not in the context of St. Mungo's.

"Probably a great step down in pay and intensity of the work." Unless full blown bar duels happened everyday at the Three Broomsticks whenever the students weren't around on weekends.

Hexy averted her eyes to not been seen staring too much at the woman's face. "Did you always work as a healer?"

"Probably a great step down in pay and intensity of the work."

"One could say that," Anna responded.  "Although this job isn't really about the money...Just something to keep me from going a bit loony while trying to figure out what exactly I'm supposed to do next."

The Three Broomsticks was certainly not the mentally stimulating job one found as a healer or counselor, but it did the trick most of the time when she needed to get her mind off the mess that was her personal life.  She hadn't heard from Wilton in months and it seemed more and more that reconciliation would permanently be out of the question.  Separation and divorce was something she had never considered a possibility in her life until now.

"Did you always work as a healer?"

"No," she said, curious if she had been recognized, "I was actually working at Hogwarts last year as a counselor...and probably one of the most frequently avoided adults in Hogwarts."

Hexy 'hmm'd' internally. It never made sense how those without money never worried about the wealth of their job.

She bit her inner cheek at the realization of who the woman was. The former counselor in the years before Maiko Biladeau-Yukawa. She had seen her face sometimes around the castle but then Casey had never...

Hexy exhaled a big breath, jutting her mouth outwards so the breath ruffled the bangs of her hair. "Same with your predecessor I'd expect." At least there was a convenient excuse in case (Wickwood?) couldn't place her as a student.

Though she was curious. The pain in her ankle was subsiding. Hexy wasn't looking for a second opinion but she was curious if the counselors were the same.

Recalling a conversation from time with Biladeau-Yukawa[1] she asked "Did you ever get into vague weird philosophical hypotheticals with students? Like how people don't understand themselves?"

1.	Reverting from the Turned Leaf - Sept 20